I'm back in Japan for a few weeks and trying to finish off the three remaining minor league parks while I am here. This year, the NPB changed the minor league system, doing away with the Eastern and Western Leagues and becoming a single circuit with three divisions. The East and Central have five teams each, while the West has just four. This really doesn't impact things on the field much, other than teams playing outside their division for more variety in matchups. My first stop was Sugimoto Shoji Buffaloes Stadium, located in Maishima, an artificial island in Osaka. This is the primary minor league stadium for the Orix Buffaloes, who are in the West Division as you can see below.
I left NYC on Wednesday morning, arrived in Tokyo Thursday afternoon, and flew to Osaka Friday morning. I was able to check in to my hotel early, giving me a chance to freshen up (a necessity in the relentless heat) before I headed out to the ballpark. The only way to get there is via the #81 bus, and they run once an hour, so I made sure to get to the bus stop at Chidoribashi early. That's it below, just in case you happen to need to know where to go.
I was somewhat concerned that the game might sell out as the stadium has a capacity of just 500, so I bought a ticket in advance and exchanged it at the gate. The ticket taker had a list of all purchasers, matched my name to it, and wrote the seat location on the ticket before giving it to me. The 08 is the Japanese year, Reiwa 8.
The stadium opened in 2016 and lies next to a much larger ballpark that seats 10,000 but is mostly used for amateur contests, such as the Osaka high school tournament. The naming rights have gone through a couple of iterations, but Sugimoto Shoji, a construction firm, owns them right now.
The entrance is along the third base side and you can come and go as you please, as long as you retain your ticket stub.
There is no food inside, but a small truck next to the gate has a few items, including shaved ice for about $2.50, an absolute bargain on a scorcher of a day. More importantly, there is a Lawson convenience store across the street and you can head over during the 10-minute break after the fifth inning to get some kara-age kun and other snacks. By the way, the yen is now 162 to a dollar, the cheapest it has been in 39 years, making everything affordable on this trip.
Inside, there are five sections, each with seven rows of uncomfortable benches. Every seat location is labelled so you can't sit in the wrong spot. There is no cover here and no lights, so all games here are during the day. Best to come in April or May, before the heat takes over and makes three hours here quite grueling. Despite the small seating area, two foul balls landed here, but fans barely move, since you have to return the ball if you catch it.
Most Japanese baseball teams have yet to figure out that their minor league games can be revenue generators and so many of the stadiums are mostly in the middle of nowhere. In this case, the area is a 'sports island' with a few other venues including the other ballpark, but nothing in the way of a neighborhood with bars and restaurants.
That's all you need to know about this place. It's as simple as they come but if you are lucky, you might get a very good game as I did on this day.
The Game
The Hanshin Tigers were visiting and their leadoff hitter was Koji Chikamoto (batting below), a five-time All-Star who won the Japan Series MVP when the Tigers took the title in 2023. Chikamoto broke his wrist when hit by a pitch early in the season and was completing his three-game rehab stint. He grounded out to get things started but the Tigers put runners on first and second for Cam Devanney, who singled, only to have Kairi Shimada thrown out at home.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the third on a walk and two singles, and then Devanney (batting below) reached on an error that allowed another run to score.
The game proceeded quickly and in the 7th, Hanshin brought Anderson Severino (below) to the mound. Severino was with the Mets AAA squad in Syracuse and had pitched well (1.31 ERA, 20 K's in 20.2 IP) but was not called up because, well, the Mets. Anyway, he had a chance to move to Japan and took it, and this was his first NPB appearance. Severino struck out the first two batters he faced before yielding an infield single. Bob Seymour pinch hit for Orix and popped foul to third to end the threat.
Hanshin added a couple more in the 8th and went to the bottom of the 9th up 4-0. Dauri Moreta, a Dominican whose name could be Japanese and who spent four seasons in MLB, came in for the Tigers. With one out, Moreta, wearing #99, hit Yutaro Sugimoto, also wearing #99. After a fly out, Seymour (below) came up and struck out to end things after just 2:50. With the bus leaving in about 10 minutes, I was glad that things ended when they did as I did not want to wait an hour for the next bus.
For me. this was a fascinating game, with several foreigners participating along with Chikamoto. There were 283 pitches thrown for a PPM of 1.665, slower than the average in the majors thanks to the pitch clock.
Notes
The next day I was at my in-laws and the Tigers game was on, with Chikamoto leading off. The entire pregame was about his return, but there were no highlights from this game.
Severino pitched one more game on the farm before moving up to the big club, where he has appeared in four games so far, with a 6.75 ERA.
This completed having seen every NPB farm team at home, but both the Tigers and Giants opened new ballparks last year, so I will see them on this trip to get current.
Best,
Sean
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